Brussels, 07/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 7 December, the European Commission announced new aid of €107 million to support decentralisation, the reintroduction of local governance and reconciliation in Ukraine.
The first programme, which aims to help decentralisation and the reintroduction of local governance, is co-financed by the EU for up to €90 million, by Germany for up to €6 million and Poland for €1 million. Additional aid of €10 million, financed by the instrument contributing to stability and peace, will serve to restore governance, reconciliation and the consolidation of peace in east Ukraine.
Call for continued reforms. Elsewhere, at the EU-Ukraine Association Council, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn encouraged Ukraine the same day to continue its reform efforts.
“We agree on the need for swift implementation and application of new policies and legislative frameworks and for the continued acceleration of short-term economic and political reforms”, Mogherini said at the end of the Council, which was attended by Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk (who also met European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker). According to Mogherini, the two parties thought that the key areas for short-term reforms included Ukraine's constitution, the fight against corruption, the judicial system, the public administration, electoral legislation, the civil security sector, energy, public finance management, market-oriented policies, and the business environment. Hahn for his part underlined the fight against corruption.
Mogherini encouraged Ukraine to meet the criteria on visa liberalisation, including the fight against corruption. The Commission's report on the liberalisation of Ukrainian visas is due to be presented on Tuesday 15 December, Yatsenyuk announced. “We have done all that has been asked”, he said. Hahn stated that he was “almost sure” that the report on visa liberalisation would be positive.
Both parties also discussed implementation of the Minsk agreements. Yatsenyuk called on the Europeans to extend their sanctions against Russia, in connection with the Ukrainian crisis. “We are convinced that the EU will show its unity (with Ukraine), that the sanctions (against Russia) will continue”, he said. The parties also spoke, in their joint press release, of “the length of the EU's restrictive economic measures against the Russian Federation, linked to the full implementation of the Minsk agreements”. “We need full implementation of the Minsk agreements by all the parties”, Mogherini stressed. Yatsenuk believed, however, that Ukraine had done its share of the work as regards this implementation. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)